Cofferdam construction



W. H. RICE- COFFERDAM CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION man OCT- s 1921.

1,418,879, PatentedJune 6, 1922.

EPATENT OFHCE.

WILLIAM RICE, F, TIGER, GEORGIA.

COFFERDAM oonsrzauo'rion'.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 6, 1922 Application filed October 3, 1921. Serial No. 505,001. r

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. RICE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Tiger, in the county of Rabun and State of Georgia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cofferdam Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to provide a cofferdam for use in the building of piers and like structures under water and under conditions necessitating the restraining or shifting of mobile soils or substances during the erection of a foundation supported upon bed rock and designed to facilitate the formation of the foundation and the location of the caisson and retaining it in proper position for the protection of the masons and other workmen during the erection of the pier or like structure; and with this object in view the invention consists in a construction and combination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a plan view, and

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of a coflerdam construction embodying the invention. v

The device consists essentially of a base member 10 and what may be termed a superstructure 10, the former being provided with a shell 11 constituting a form or mold reduced at its lower edge as shown at 12 to facilitate the penetration of the mud, sand and like substances found at the bottom of bodies of water covering the bed rock indicated at 13, said shell consisting of uprights held in place and reinforced by braces 14 or the equivalents thereof.

Rising from the base and suitably secured at their lower ends thereto are uprights or posts 15 consisting of relatively heavy timbers disposed for example in the angles of the form or mold represented by the base and extended to and above thefinormal surface 01' level of the water in the watercourse or body in which the pier is to be located, the space marked out by the positions of said posts or uprights representing the precise position of the pier to be built and which when constructed, afterthe removal of the I sand and mud from the interior of the caisson, by dredging or by the use of a sand pump or equivalent means, will consist of concrete or cement introduced to fill the form or mold and produce a foundation as indicated at 16. v

Surmounting the base member and guided by the post or uprights 15, which as above noted extend above the plane of the surface of the water, is the upper member or caisson which may be reinforced by upright braces 17 and horizontal braces 18 supplemented if desired by the diagonal braces 18 to afford suflicient strength to' restrain or resist the inward pressure of the water surrounding the caisson after the contents thereof have been removed as above indicated by' pumping or dredging or both. Said upper member or caisson preferably embodies the timber fillers 19 constituting the walls which are preferablyv provided exteriorly with a sheet metal sheathing or jacket 20 which extends from the upper edges of the walls to a plane below the lower edgeof the walls, and the surplus material below the lower edges of the walls is inturned or flanged as shown at 21 to lie between the lower edges of the walls of the upper member or caisson and the upper edges of the walls of the lower or base member and to project into the space enclosed by the base member so that when the concrete or cementto constitute the foundation is introduced into the structure reaches the proper level, these flanges will be embedded therein and will constitute a watertight seal to prevent the water from leaking through the walls of the composite structure between the lower edges of the walls of the superstructure and the upper edges of the walls of the base, and thereby detracting from or threatening the stability of the completed structure. The cofferdam is designed to be built above the surface of the water on any suitable support such as barges or false work and then submerged and sunk until the lower edges of the walls of the base come in contact with the bed rock after'penetrating the relatively soft mud or sand bottom, and this sinking operation may be accomplished by the use of any convenient weighting means such as rocks 22 arranged for example on platforms 23 supported by longitudinal beams 24 which in turn rest upon transverse beams 25 spanning the upper end of the caisson. Or the base member of the structure may be sunk and the superstructure or caisson applied thereto after the base has its seat on the bed rock.

Having positioned the parts with the base properly seated on the bed rock, h'owever,the next operation is to remove the mud and sand from the interior of the base by the use of dredges, sand pumps or the equivalent there- Qt; and this having been accomplished permanentaiichoring means may be introduced such as theI-beams 26 suspended in the structure by means ot cables 27 depending from thecross beams 25 or any equivalents thereof s'othat the weight of the I-beams or like structural iron elements is imposed upon the upper edge of the superstructure or caisson while the beams are located near the bottom of the base enclosure and close to the bed rock. These structural iron beams are lowered as will be observed after the mud andsand have been cleaned. out of the interior oi thecofferdam and may rest if desired on the rock footing so that when the concrete or cement is introduced they will become embedded therein and the entire weight of the concrete foundation will be utilized in holding the caisson in place.

'The concrete or cement may be introduced into the mold formed by the structure by means of a tremie tube or its equivalent to build up a foundation of dimensions designed by the walls of the base member of the structure to the prescribed or predeterniined depth to embed theibreak joint flanges 21 of the superstructure or 021iSSO11,.L11(l thereafter, when the concrete or cement has become sufiiciently set the water contained in the watertight caisson from which moisture is excluded by the joint formed by said flanges 21, may be removed by pumps or the like to permit of the operations of the mareached sons and other workmen on the building or coi struction to be erected upon the foundation formed by the concrete or cement base previously laid. lrlaving described the invention, what is claimed as new and useful is y 1. A coiierdam construction having a base member constituting a mold or form for a concrete or cement foundation; an upper member or caisson supported by the base member and having an enclosing wall and anchoring means for the upper member havihg an element disposed within the base member and adapted to be embedded in the concrete or cement molded or formed therein. 2. A coiferdam construction having a base member constitutinga mold or form for a concrete or cement foundation, an upper member or caisson supported by the base member and having an enclosing wall, and anchoring means for the upper member having an element disposed within the base member and adapted to be embedded in the concrete or cement molded or formed therein, the base having a wall provided with reduced lower edges for facilitating the sinking'thereof in the mud and sand at the bottom of a body of water.

3. A "coiferdam construction having a base member constitutinga mold or form for a concrete or cement foundation, an upper member or caisson supported by the base member and having an enclosing wall, and anchoring means for the upper member hav:

ing an element disposed within the basemember and adapted to be embedded in the concrete or cement molded or formed therein the base member carrying uprights or posts extending to and above the upper surface of the water for holding and guiding the uppervmember or caisson.

4. A cofferdam construction having a base member constituting a mold or form for a concrete or cement. foundation, an upper member or caisson supported by the base memberand having an enclosing Wall, and anchoring means for the upper member having an element disposed within the base member and adapted to be embedded in the concrete or cement molded or formed thereini the base member carrying uprights or posts extending to and above the uppersurface ofthe water for holding and guiding the upper member or caisson which is arranged to enclose the same.

5. A coiterdam construction having a base member constituting a mold or form for a concrete or cement foundation, an upper member or caisson supported by the base member and having an enclosing wall and anchoring means for the upper member havan element disposed within the base member and adapted to be embedded in the concrete or cement molded or formed therein consisting of pendent structural beams located within the space bounded by the base and caisson.

'6l A cofi'erdain construction having a base member constituting a mold or form for a concrete or cement foundation, an upper member or caisson supported by the ,base member and having an enclosing wall, and anchoring means for the upper member having an element disposed within the base member and adapted to be embedded in the concrete or cement molded or formed thereintan d consisting of structural iron beams located within the base member andsuspended by cables from t he upper portion of tie caisson.

' "7. A cofi'erdam construction having a base member constituting a mold or form for a concrete or cement foundation, an upper in, the caisson having an exterior sheathing member or caisson supported by the base or jacket inturned at the lower edges of the member and having an enclosing Wall, and Walls thereof for embedding in the cement anchoring means for the upper member havor concrete contents of the base member.

ing an element disposed within the base In testimony whereof I affix my signamember and adapted to be embedded in the ture.

concrete or cement molded or formed there WILLIAM H. RICE. 

